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Tiivistelmä

The LGBT community has changed considerably in numbers, awareness, and acceptance in the past few decades. Due to the growing number of LGBT elderly, special considera-tions must be taken into account in planning their care.

This study aimed at showcasing considerations that should be taken into account when planning elderly care and future elderly living arrangements. The research questions used were (a) are there special considerations for LGBT seniors? and (b), if so, what are the considerations. These were found to be community building and providing nursing staff with culturally competent training.

A literature review was performed in order to gain information and formulate sugges-tions. The nursing theory of the Neuman Systems Model was used for comparison, with the idea of stressors being a main factor to the mental and emotional health of LGBT seniors and nursing intervention to be important. An inductive content analysis found two common categories.

This study concluded that the members of the LGBT elderly community face higher lev-els of depression, substance abuse, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and feelings of invisibility than their heterosexual counterparts, but draw strong positive benefits and senses of sat-isfaction from “manufactured families” and LGBT-tailored programs. The need for cul-turally competent care was also found to be important, as it is currently lacking in elder-care facilities. In Finland alone, SETA offers information specific to LGBT elders, so the information is not out of reach.